


The Twelve Things of Christmas

by tomorrowthestars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas stuff, Devoted!Reylo, F/M, intend to put some Maturity into the fic eventually, reference to tragic grandparental death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-09-30 04:24:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17216921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomorrowthestars/pseuds/tomorrowthestars
Summary: Rey has had a difficult life; Ben is determined to give her the best Christmas ever





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Melusine11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melusine11/gifts).



> Prompt from Melusine11: "Ben going all out for their first christmas together because Rey has never really celebrated/hates it, and he’s determined to make it the best. thing. ever."
> 
> Cannot help but bring some Devoted!Reylo into this holiday. And cannot keep it short, so it will be a longer collection of short little vignettes.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick backstory of Ben and Rey's relationship to date, explaining why he intends to go 150% on this whole Christmas thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to use a version of another prompt as part of the backstory: "Snowball fight meet cute - one of them is involved in the fight, the other is just passing through and gets hit right in the face. awkward apologies ensue with offers to buy an apology drink that maybe leads to more."

Ben and Rey had been dating for little over a year – well, “dating”. That word wasn’t quite what their relationship was. Maybe it had been, in the beginning, when he’d been all nerves and butterflies whenever he thought about asking her out. Now, though, she was a part of his life, a part of his world, a part of _him_. They were _together_. It seemed like a lame way to describe such an important relationship, but it was ultimately the best word Ben could find. 

They were together, and it was December. It was an important month. It was _their_ month. 

They’d become friends two Decembers ago. One afternoon in the park, Ben had whipped a snowball in Poe’s direction at high velocity and the bastard had dodged at the last minute; the snowball had slammed into the face of a girl walking innocently along the adjacent path. That had been Rey. Ben felt terrible about it, because there had been ice in the snowball and it had left a thin, bleeding cut on her cheek. He’d raced over as she stood in stunned silence, apologizing profusely, expecting to get the cussing-out of his life (which he knew he well deserved).

She’d giggled instead, which both confused and intrigued him. Between those two unexpected feelings and his deep sense of guilt, he’d found himself offering to buy her dinner as an apology. He hadn’t known it at the time, but she’d eaten her last packet of ramen earlier, and all she had left until her next paycheck was a couple of apples and some peanut butter. She was in no position to turn down a free meal.

After the dinner, they began hanging out together. Rey was funny and smart and kick-ass tough, and Ben liked her. He felt more comfortable with her than he’d ever felt with anyone before, even Poe, who had been his friend since fourth grade. Rey seemed to like him too, and without conditions or reservations, which was unusual and thus very important.

Ben had always felt the world had screwed him over. His family had money, and he could have anything he wanted, but his parents had always seemed more concerned about their jobs and their hobbies and their image than they were about him. He was introverted, so it wasn’t easy for him to be social, and he wasn’t good-looking enough to be considered “quiet and mysterious”. On top of that, he was what most of the males he knew sneeringly called “sensitive” – he felt things deeply, and he couldn’t control his emotions when he felt them. He’d spent most of his life wrapped up in a ball of anger and self-pity.

And then he’d met Rey.

He’d already begun to make tentative efforts to rebuild his relationship with his parents – he’d just turned thirty, which seemed as good a time as any to begin acting like a grown-ass man – but the process accelerated once he’d gotten to know her.

As bad as he’d thought his lot was, hers was worse. When she was five, her drug-addicted parents had left her with their dealer and never returned. The dealer kept Rey – she wasn’t quite sure why – but he would disappear for days at a time, leaving her to eat whatever she could find and get back and forth to school by herself.

When she was seven, the police had raided the house, barging in with masks and automatic weapons and terrifying shouts, and Rey had been thrown into the foster care system. She’d been in and out of different homes afterwards, living with families who were nice and families who were not so nice, always on the move from place to place.

When she’d turned eighteen, she’d been put out of the system as abruptly as she’d been tossed in. She’d lived on the streets until she’d found a job and a place cheap enough to afford. It was an appallingly rat- and roach-infested room in a gang-controlled area, but it had a roof and a door that locked, and she was grateful for it.

And that was the thing. Rey wasn’t bitter, and she didn’t sit around moaning over what she didn’t have. She put her chin up defiantly and went about the business of making her life better, enjoying whatever she could. She thought it was funny to be hit in the face with a snowball, and it wasn’t the worst she’d ever been hurt, and so she laughed.

And over the months that followed, as Ben got to know her better, he fell in love with her.

Last December, he’d finally gotten up the courage to ask her out. He’d talked about it as a sort of anniversary dinner (it was a year since the snowball incident), but he’d been stammering a little and blushing, and she asked point-blank if it was a date. He’d said “Yes,” his heart pounding so hard it made him nauseous, and he’d been hit with a swirl of dizziness when she’d flushed a gorgeous pink and murmured, “Good”.

And now they were _together_. And it was Christmas again.

Ben had celebrated many Christmases in his life, full of expensive presents and festive music and enough food to burst his belly. Rey had never had any of that, not even last year (they’d only begun dating, and so he’d kept it low-key, afraid of scaring her off with too much enthusiasm).

So this year, he was going to go all out. Every holiday thing that he could remember from his childhood, he would give to Rey. She was finally going to have the Christmas she had always deserved.


	2. Thing #1: Star of Wonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben's first Christmas Thing is something he did with his father as a child.

Every year of his childhood, Ben’s father had taken him to the planetarium downtown to see the holiday show. It was an exploration of the Star of Bethlehem, in both the scientific sense and in the sense of what it meant in the context of the Christmas story. Ben had been fascinated by the projections of stars and images on the domed roof of the sky theatre, thrilled by the various different theories as to the Star’s origin. He hadn’t been to the show since he was twelve, when his resentment over something that he no longer remembered had led to a violent refusal to spend time with or speak to his father.

That had put an end to the holiday sky shows.

He had to admit, he’d missed it. And Rey had never seen it. And so that was Thing #1.

They parked the car along the lakefront boulevard leading up to the planetarium, far enough away that they got to enjoy a nice stroll as the wind blasted into them from across the frozen water. That was the first thing that made Rey giggle – her hair whipping around her face and into Ben’s, their cheeks and the tips of their noses turning red. 

The second giggle came when she tried to climb the stairs to the planetarium building and Ben pulled her back.

“That’s not the entrance,” he said.

She gave him a skeptical look. “But that’s the building.”

“Yes, but the entrance is down there.” He pointed towards a massive staircase that started just to the left of where they stood, and led down under the grassy area in the middle of the boulevard.

“So, we have to go underground to look at the stars?” she asked, quirking her eyebrows at him.

“Well, when you put it like that, I guess, yeah,” he laughed, and she giggled.

They were early, so they checked out the exhibit about the Apollo programs and the moon landing. Rey examined everything she came across – every display, every picture, every description – sharing her thoughts and her questions about them with Ben. Rey had a brutally keen intelligence, and he loved the look of focused concentration she would get on her face when she was learning something new. She looked almost fierce this way, as if she were some kind of warrior of knowledge or something.

He couldn’t help wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling her neck.

“You really shouldn’t do that to me when there are children around,” she murmured, her voice low and husky, and Ben realized that he’d better start thinking about ice-cold showers and other very unsexy things if he didn’t want to experience a Not-Now-Boner in full view of the planetarium’s other patrons.

“You’re probably right,” he admitted, sneaking one last kiss onto the curve where her neck met her shoulder. She shivered slightly, pouting as he let her go.

When they finally sat down in the sky theatre to take in the show, Rey eyed the star projector intently. Ben watched her with amusement – it was like looking at a live version of the meme that had a lady’s face with random mathematical formulas superimposed on it. He could almost see Rey’s brain thrumming as she analyzed how the machine might work. 

And then the lights dimmed, and Rey grabbed his hand as the show began.

It was still as interesting and exciting as Ben remembered it from childhood, and even more thrilling with Rey sitting beside him, clasping his hand between both of hers, taking it all in with avid interest. 

Her attention wavered only once, when they heard a deep snore from one of the rows behind them, followed by a woman whispering, “Jenny, poke your grandpa and wake him up.” Rey let out a muffled giggle; Ben was less successful at keeping his laughter quiet, but he did the best he could.

After the show was over, they wandered through exhibits about the solar system and the universe, and one about the impact of astronomy on the cultures of the world (Ben found this one particularly enthralling). 

They left the planetarium at closing time, just as the winter night was beginning to deepen over the lakefront. Rey pulled him over to the side of the building to get a better glimpse of the city skyline, all lit up with bright lights of white and red and green, and some blue as well.

“Magic,” Rey whispered, and Ben pulled her closer to him and pressed a kiss on her forehead, just at her hairline. She smelled of flowers and apples and warmth, even through the now-frigid gales coming off the lake.

“Should we order Chinese when we get home?” Ben asked, punctuating the question with one last kiss on his precious girlfriend’s head. “Maybe see what movie we can find?”

“Mmmm, yes,” she agreed, as they began to walk back to the car, the wind blowing against their backs as if pushing them along home. “Cashew Chicken, then warm blankets and Netflix-and-kiss-my-neck-some-more.” She burrowed into him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Damn, baby,” Ben said, feeling awestruck and amused and sappy and horny all at the same time, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Rey answered, ending her sentence with a squeak as a particularly harsh gust slammed into their backs. “Ugh!” she screamed. “Come on, Solo, let’s _run for it!_ ”

They dashed for the car in a mad flurry of giggles and shouts, keeping their hands interlocked as they raced down the sidewalk.

And that was Christmas Thing #1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This particular chapter talks about a sky show at the Adler Planetarium that I loved as a child, but that no longer exists (it was discontinued around 2009 or so, I think). I did manage to bring my kids to it one year, so I got to relive it with them before it was gone forever.


	3. Thing #2: The Nutcracker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben takes Rey to the traditional Christmas ballet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Melusine11.

Another holiday tradition from Ben’s childhood had been a trip to see _The Nutcracker_ with his mother, Leia. His father never joined them; he thought ballet was “floofy”. Ben agreed with his father, but his mother wanted him to go, and he was just a kid. So he went, grudgingly and with very little grace.

If he was honest with himself, it had been nice to have some of his mother’s attention. He didn’t have to share it with his father or his uncle or anyone else. Once the lights went down, of course, she was focused on the ballet, but until then it was just the two of them talking, and he felt important.

Of course, he’d stopped speaking to his mother at roughly the same time that he’d iced out his father. So the yearly _Nutcracker_ had gone the way of the sky shows.

Ben was quite sure that Rey had never been to a ballet. He wasn’t sure if she’d find it interesting or not, but _The Nutcracker_ was a classic Christmas tradition. If he was truly going to do Christmas right, he’d have to include it.

Unfortunately, he’d waited a little too long to have the idea; the tickets were nearly impossible to get ahold of. He didn’t often trade upon his family’s connections, preferring to earn his own way through life, but he wasn’t doing this for himself. He was doing it for Rey. So he swallowed his pride and called Leia to ask if she could obtain some tickets.

Which is how he wound up taking his mother along on his ballet date with Rey.

They had the best seats in the house, of course. Leia had been the one to get the tickets, and she was used to a certain lifestyle. She wouldn’t allow Ben to pay her back for the tickets, either, which annoyed him – he wanted this experience to be from _him_ , not his mother.

Rey had picked up on his irritation and had managed to maneuver herself into the seat between Ben and Leia, thus providing a cheerful buffer between the two. Of course, Leia had taken the opportunity to steal Rey’s attention by chatting her up about all manner of things, while Ben stared down at his tie, silent and sullen.

 _She’s not_ stealing _Rey_ , he reminded himself. _Stop being such a child. She’s being a good hostess, and she’s being friendly and welcoming to the woman I love._

Leia seemed to be giving Rey an education about dance as well – he heard the names of some classic ballets come up in conversation. _Sleeping Beauty_ , _Swan Lake_ , _Giselle_.

“She danced all of those?” Rey sounded awestruck. “That sounds so impressive. I mean, I presume it’s impressive. I don’t know much about ballet.” 

“Just never had an interest?” Leia asked.

Ben’s attention went on full alert. He hadn’t shared much of Rey’s life story with his parents, figuring it was hers to tell. He wasn’t sure this was the time or place to get into it, though. He also wasn’t sure that his mother would leave well enough alone.

_If she starts badgering Rey…._

“Never really thought about it,” Rey shrugged. Ben could see the question forming in his mother’s eyes, and he leaned over and put his hand on Rey’s arm just as the lights went down.

“Oh, there we go,” Leia murmured, looking towards the stage as the orchestra started up.

Even in the dim lights of the audience, Ben could still see the brilliant smile on Rey’s face as she turned to him. She leaned in close and whispered, “Thank you,” before giving him a gentle kiss. Then she wrapped her hands around his arm and turned to the stage, almost wiggling with excitement.

Ben had spent all the previous _Nutcracker_ s of his life bored out of his skull, and he had anticipated having the same experience now. But he hadn’t counted on Rey, on her wonder and her enthusiasm, on the way she leaned into him every so often to whisper a rapturous comment. He found himself getting as caught up in the music and the dancing as she was.

 _I am so lucky_ , he thought, watching his beautiful girlfriend gaze raptly at the stage. _How did someone like me ever get so lucky?_

When the lights came up at intermission, Leia excused herself to use the ladies’ room.

“Do you like it so far, baby?” Ben was fairly sure he knew the answer, but he had to ask anyway.

Rey threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close. They were still sitting down, and Ben felt a sharp pain as the armrest of his chair dug into his stomach. But he was not about to let go of her.

“I love it,” she gushed. “It’s so beautiful. And I love you.” She pulled back a little to kiss the tip of his nose. “You’re so beautiful too.”

Ben knew he was giving her the sappiest of looks, but he didn’t care. He gently brushed his thumb along her graceful jawline. “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met,” he told her, and leaned forward to give her a tender kiss.

They were in a public place, so he didn’t intend to kiss her for long, but Rey seemed to have other ideas. She followed his lips with her own as he started to pull away, and so he kissed her again. And then again. And then he lost track of everything except his absolute, all-encompassing need to keep kissing her.

It wasn’t until he heard his mother say, “I see you found a way to occupy yourselves while I was gone,” that he remembered exactly where they were. Rey flushed as she hurriedly turned to greet Leia. Ben began to shift around in his seat, trying to hide yet another Not-Now-Boner. Fortunately, the lights went down less than a minute later, and he only had to worry about how to sit comfortably.

When the ballet ended, Ben and Rey walked Leia to the parking garage and her car. Leia had offered to drive them all into the city, but Ben was damned if he was going to have his mother chauffeur him to and from a date like a middle-schooler. As they said their goodbyes, Leia insisted on hugging Ben, which he decided to tolerate. She also hugged Rey, who hugged her back warmly and promised to bring Ben to the elder Solos’ house for dinner some night.

They got into Ben’s car after watching Leia drive off, and out of the corner of his eye Ben saw Rey give a little shiver. He turned on the heater and the seat warmer before pulling out of the space to head home.

“You never told me your grandmother was a dancer,” Rey observed.

“You’re right,” he answered. “I’m sorry, I guess it just never came up.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. I just think it’s really interesting, you know?” Rey leaned back against the headrest. “I mean, I’ve never known anyone who performed for a living. Your mother said she was quite well-known.”

“Yes, she was.” Ben changed lanes. “She has a Wikipedia page and everything.” Then he chuckled and reached into his coat pocket.

“Can I use your phone?” Rey asked, as he held it out to her.

“You remember the passcode?” he questioned, as she took it from his hand.

“Yes, I remember the passcode.” She rolled her eyes. As Ben spelled his grandmother’s name, Rey typed, her brow furrowed in concentration, and the car went silent as she read through the page.

When she was finished, she leaned back in her seat again and stared out the window. “She died when your mother was born, and your uncle.”

Ben nodded. “They don’t know exactly what what happened. She just died.”

“Yeah, that’s what it said.” Rey thought for a few seconds longer, then added, “So your mother never knew her mother.”

“No,” Ben confirmed. “And she didn’t really know her father either.”

“I figured.” Rey looked back down to the phone. “It said he went crazy with grief and was put in an institution. Then he died a year later.”

“That is true,” Ben said, exiting the highway.

“Your mother told me she tries to go to the ballet a lot,” Rey mused. “I would too. I mean, if I knew anything about my mother, anything she’d done or enjoyed, and I had to chance to be a part of it, I would, just to have some part of her. No wonder your mom’s so into ballet.”

 _That’s why she wanted me to come with her every year_ , he realized. _It was a way to remember my grandmother, a way to let me know who my grandmother was._ How had he not understood that before?

It was one of the few things that Leia had left of her mother, and about the only thing she could share with him. And every year, he’d resented the hell out of it.

 _I am such an asshole_ , he thought.

He parked his car in front of his apartment complex and stared unseeingly at the building in front of him.

“Thank you for tonight,” Rey said, laying her head on his shoulder. “For the beautiful ballet, and for the time with your mother, and for sharing your family story with me.”

He shook himself out of his self-loathing long enough to pull her hand to his lips and give it a kiss. “You’re welcome, baby. Now, let’s get in before we freeze out here.”

As Rey busied herself in the bedroom, changing into the pajamas she’d brought with her earlier that afternoon, Ben brushed his teeth. After he’d put away his toothbrush, he caught sight of himself in the bathroom mirror.

_That is what a selfish bastard looks like._

He stared at himself for a couple of minutes before Rey came in.

“Hey. Are you all right?” she asked, reaching out to rub her hand soothingly up and down on his back.

One of the things about Rey, was that he always wanted to tell her things. Even when they were things he was ashamed of. “You were right, in the car,” he answered. “That’s all my mother really has of my grandmother. The ballet. You know, when I was a child, every year she made a big deal out of taking me to the _Nutcracker_ , and every year I resented having to go. She was just trying to teach me who my grandmother was, and trying to honor her memory, and I was a whiny, selfish little asshole kid about it.”

“Good thing you grew up.” Rey kissed his shoulder, leaning her head against it as they looked at their reflection. “Now you can do things differently.”

“I am such an asshole,” he growled.

“Hey!” Rey gave his back a soft slap. “If you talk shit about my boyfriend, I’m going to have to fight you.”

He couldn’t help smiling as he looked at her fierce expression. “I _am_ your boyfriend, Rey.”

“That won’t save you,” she declared, giving him another soft slap.

“Yes, ma’am,” he chuckled, and ducked down to give her a kiss on the crown of her head.

“Ben,” she said.

“Yeah, baby?”

“You know I love you, and I’m always here for you.” She looked up at him. “But I _really_ have to pee.”

He laughed out loud, giving her one more kiss before going to the bedroom. As he got into his pajamas and settled under the covers, he thought about what Rey had said, about doing things differently. Maybe he could take his mother to the ballet sometime. And maybe out to dinner, too, so she could tell him about his grandmother.

Yeah, he’d do that. He wanted to do that.

Rey turned off the light and slid into bed next to him, smelling of floral hand cream and mint toothpaste. “Listen to me,” she said, and he looked over at her. “You are the best person I’ve ever met,” she told him, her voice solemn and serious. “ _The best_. It doesn’t mean you’re perfect, everyone does stuff they regret later, but Ben Solo, you are amazing and I love you.”

She was trying to sound strong and definite, but her voice broke. Just a little. Someone who didn’t know her well would not have been able to hear it.

Ben heard it.

He rolled over and gathered her into his arms, brushing the hair back from her face. “And I love you, Rey Smith. More than I can even say.”

“Good,” she sighed, and reached up to pull him close for a kiss.

Thing #2 had been a success. Even with his mother along as chaperone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The Nutcracker" is still performed every year in many places around the Chicago area, but when I was a kid the tradition was the one put on at Arie Crown Theatre in McCormick Place. It was for a charity -- I think Chicago Tribune Charities -- and it has also disappeared. I'd go with my mom and sometimes my aunt and little cousins would join us, all dressed up special. And it was always a beautiful production.
> 
> Also, I decided that Padme was a dancer in tribute to Natalie Portman's performance in "Black Swan".

**Author's Note:**

> So not only is this a gift for the wonderful and amazing Melusine11, it's also an homage to all the Christmas things that I remember from growing up. I'm going to put a note at the end of each chapter that says exactly what I'm referencing.


End file.
